Ability Order

Threats & Synergies

ThreatsSynergies

ExtremeMajorEvenMinorTiny

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Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Lee Sin

Extreme

Lee Sin is probably Shen's largest counter in the jungle. However, when you complete your jungle item and get a Blade of the Ruined King, your dueling potential skyrockets. Lee Sin will enjoy his early and mid game, but later on, his damage output drops significantly.

Jarvan IV

Major

Jarvan players will be Jarvan players. Jarvan has almost the same early game pressure as Lee Sin, however his escapes are limited. Ulting the poor soul that is in J4's Cataclysm is generally a good idea.

Master Yi

Minor

If there is a Yi on the other team, get a Thornmail as your last item and I kid you not, you can duel a full build Master Yi.

Fiddlesticks

Tiny

If Fiddle's ult get interrupted he is fairly useless. Shen's E is a somewhat longer range disrupt that can stop Fiddle's ult and his W channel.

Hecarim

Major

Hecarim is a problem for Shen early to mid game. His high speed and surprising damage output makes him a pain in the rear. Ulting someone that he has focused is a wise decision. Just make sure you don't E him while he ults.

Amumu

Minor

Amumu does not thrive in anything but a gank or teamfight, so if you catch him out, it's a free kill. Wards are key to shutting down Ammumu since he relies on kills rather than farming the jungle.

Dr. Mundo

Major

You can't kill him :( BUT you can counter jungle him. This is a great way to halt his gold income and ergo his effectiveness.

Kha'Zix

Major

Kha Zix poses a threat to this build since his kit a dueler build. Kha is one of the best assassins/fighters in the game, but with a little armor, you should be able to handle him.

Rengar

Even

This is a complete skill matchup. It hinges on whether Rengar gets the drop on you (which is very easy do due to his ult (heh I said doo doo) ). Look for the ! above you and get ready to taunt to negate his initial burst of damage.

Rek'Sai

Even

Rek Sai is the bane of every non-Rek Sai junglers in League. Her insane damage output and crazy mobility makes her very hard to counter. She also usually gets fairly tanky later on making her hard to kill. Shen's taunt can negate most of her damage during a teamfight, but only for so long. She also can counter-jungle you pretty hard. However, in a 1v1, Shen can out-sustain Rek Sai. Although you may not kill her, you can force a flash quite easily.

Shaco

Minor

Shaco can be easily killed by Shen's taunt, but he is Shaco and probably will find a way out. However, he will not be able to kill you once you get your tanky items.

Cho'Gath

Major

Cho Gath is a hard jungler to jungle against. His CC, sustain, and true damage ult can offer Shen some problems. However if your team is careful, he shouldn't cause too many problems.

Olaf

Even

Olaf is almost your equivalent. His innate sustain and surprising damage output can be very detrimental. I think it would come down to whoever can get their lanes ahead the quickest will be the better jungler.

Nautilus

Extreme

Unfortunately, Nautilus is so tanky by the end of the game, he is literally unkillable. If by some miracle that you get him below 25% hp, he can just CC all of your teammates. As Shen you most likely won't be able to kill him, HOWEVER Nautilus' weak spot is his jungle clears. Counter- Jungling can stop Nautilus' gold income severely.

Warwick

Minor

Warwicks will be Warwicks. His sustain and damage output is very annoying to play against. However, your taunt is and excellent counter to WW. Negating his ult with your E can save your carries.

Evelynn

Minor

Evelynn is a pain in the bum. Her invisibility makes her ganks great and her tenacity makes he incredibly hard to kill. Her W can remove your taunt, and her burst is insane. Just wait for late game, and ward your jungle to prevent the counter jungling.

Udyr

Even

Udyr is another one of you equivalents. His high speed and damage makes him a great jungler. In the case of an Udyr, wait for your damage items and a tank item before you consider fighting him. Ward your jungle and HIS jungle to keep tabs on his movements.

Nocturne

Extreme

Nocturne is another forgotten jungler. You can build this dude however you want and still kill anyone. His spell shield is very hard to deal with since he will probably save it for your taunt. If the Nocturne builds tank, do not worry too much. If they go damage (the more likely scenario) you need to be very wary. He has to potential to kill you even later on. Use wards to track his movements AND when he ults, try to ult the target to save them.

Gragas

Extreme

Gragas is a tough matchup for Shen, especially early. His percent health damage really hurts in the early to mid stages of the game. He also becomes an insane tank later on. There honestly is not much that Shen can do against Gragas early, but later on, you can definitely duel him.

Nunu & Willump

Extreme

Unfortunately, Nunu is a huge counter to you. You most likely won't kill him, and his E attack speed slow really hurts you. However, interrupting his ultimate with your Taunt can really help your team out.

Introduction

Hi everybody! I am TheDirtyGuvnah. I am an avid jungle main, always looking for ways to push the boundaries of the jungle. As you probably know, Shen got a fairly huge rework with some very cool and schnazzy abilities that still represent the core foundations of the champion. However, after changes such as the loss of his Q sustain and his Ki Strike passive, people are becoming concerned about Shen's place in the game. After playing multiple games with the new Shen (top, support, and JUNGLE BABY!!) I came to the conclusion that Shen's best role currently lies in the jungle. If you read my previous version of this guide, you will realize that I have switched it from being a duelist Shen build to a complete tank build. With the release of new items such as Dead Man's Plate and Titanic Hydra, you will be doing no shortage of damage with this build. I hope this guide provides some insight to how great Shen is in the Jungle. Remember to drop a comment with any recommended changes to this build! Hope you enjoy the guide!

Once your E is used in a gank, it't up to your teammate to finish the kill

Masteries

New Season Runes and Masteries!!!! YAY. Honestly, take any masteries that give you more health and resists. This leaves you with a few options, so feel free to do what you want!Personally I feel that Aftershock is the best, followed by Grasp of the Undying.

Spells

Smite and Flash are the Standard Teleport can be used in place of Flash. This is super effective for split pushing. You can easily ult back to a dying teammate if a teamfight erupts while you are split-pushing.

The Passive: Ki Barrier

Thanks to this passive, Shen is able to survive the early clears of the jungle with ease. This shield scales with 14% of your maximum health, and activates whenever your cast an ability, so in a sense, this is Shen's new form of "sustain" that makes up for the loss of his Q healing (ty Vorpal Blade). Also, this passive include the presence of his spirit blade, which I will discuss later on in the guide.

The Q: Twilight Assault

Shen's Q, Twilight Assault is his main form of damage while clearing the jungle. This ability causes your spirit blade to come to your current location, as well as making your next 3 auto-attacks deal % health damage based on the enemies max health. Also, if while en route to you, if your spirit blade hit an enemy champ, you get 50% attack speed, increased % health damage, and slows the champion. To be concise, this ability is dope.

The W: Spirit's Refuge

This ability is very interesting. When you activate it, you create a radius around your Spirit Blade. Any and all ally champions inside this zone are immune to auto-attacks for the duration. So if you ever wanted to be like Jax, just give Shen a call, and he'll hit you up!

The E: Shadow Dash

This is Shen's main form of CC while ganking. Using this ability causes Shen to dash in a straight line and taunt any enemy champion you hit. Additionally, with the new update, when every you do damage with your Q and E, you restore Energy. This allows your to keep your energy pool full since each empowered auto attack of your Q will restore 30-45 energy based on level. That's ~120 energy which is muy bueno! This ability ALSO scales with your max health, so Shadow Dash actually does damage now! YAAAAY!

The Ultimate: Stand United

Shen's Ultimate, Stand United makes people very happy. It is basically a Get Out-Of-The-Enemy-Team-Damage-Free-Card. It also is a Dive-Extremely-Deep-Free-Card. It also is the ultimate (no pun intended) gank set up ability. Unlike a TP, if your ally is in a bush, the enemy cannot see you ulting your friend in need. This allows for Shen to gank top, get a kill, and set up a gank in bot lane is a matter of seconds, all undetected (given your ally is out of sight.) Make sure to keep tabs on the ward coverage to ensure this strategy can be used effectively. In addition to teleporting Shen to his ally, it also teleports the spirit blade to the ally too, which is uber dank because you can cast your W right on top of them if they are in serious trouble!

WARNING!!!! BIG ***** WARNING!! DO NOT IGNORE THIS MESSAGE!!!After countless games of Shen, and extensive research, I have determined that when you play Shen, most of your teammates will develop a condition called I-Think-Shen-Ult-Is-On-A-10-Second-Cooldown-itis. This is a serious condition that if not properly treated, can lead to increased teammate toxicity, and potentially death of your LP. The only way to treat this condition is to rationalize then that mathematically, a 150 second cooldown is not a 10 second cooldown. In most of the cases I have studied, this reasoning will not work. If all else fails, and your teammate starts giving you a brain aneurysm, you must press the mute button. During this stage, they will wallow in their own toxicity, and then proceed to report your for Refusing to Communicate. And for a small donation of $420.69 a day, you can provide much needed funds for research and potential cures for I-Think-Shen-Ult-Is-On-A-10-Second-Cooldown-itis. Please, don't delay another minute. Pick up the phone and dial 1800-Lel-420-xD for more information on this horrible disease.

The Spirit Blade

Shen's spirit blade is his amigo, compadre, friend, homie, and brotein shake. When walking around the map, try to use your Q to bring your homie closer to you as it does take more time to travel the further away you are. Having your spirit blade close to you can allows for your W to be effective. The position of your Spirit Blade can mean life or death for you and/or an ally.

Shen Combos

There are 2 main combos that you can use on Shen to make plays, and impress your teammates (they might even honor you!). The first on is the simple Flash + Shadow Dash combo. Basically, this combo allows you to increase the range of your taunt by a substantial amount. To do this correctly, simply E in the direction you want, and Flash near the end of the dash. If all goes as planned you taunt your enemy, kill them, they rage quit, your team says how much of a god you are, and you get the freelo. This is where the second "combo" comes into play. Generally, after you dash to taunt someone, you will end up behind them. This is a great time to use your Q (and W if need be) and guarantee that your Spirit Blade hits the enemy champion to grant you those bonus stats. Once you style on those nubs, proceed to Penta and carry your FailFish team!

Jungle Clears

With the recent changes to the jungle, your best option is to start either red or blue buff. You should usually start on the side of your bot lane to get a better leash. In addition, Raptors and Krugs are a real pain to clear as Shen has no AOE. However, once your Cinderhulk is completed, they shouldn't be a problem.

Jungle Clears: Tips and Tricks

Shen actually has a surprising amount of micro actions that can may your jungle clears more bearable. First, use your Q before you start to attack the camp. The Spirit blade has a travel time, so Q'ing early will allow you to get your shield and your 3 empowered auto's off. WARNING: Unfortunately, you cannot get the bonus stats from having your Spirit Blade pass through a monster.
Second, your W can block monster auto attacks. Generally, you can only block one, however, if you W the split second before a monster auto-attack hits you, the W will last long enough to dodge 2 autos instead of one.

Invading

I have recently gotten a couple of comments asking me to discuss invading. So in short, if you are playing jungle Shen, DO NOT INVADE. There are many reasons for this.
1.) You are squishy: Hunters machete doesn't make you the tankiest of champs at level 1.

2.) Ability Dilemma: Lets say you were to invade. You would have to start E in hopes that maybe you get a pick on an enemy. However, if you start E, you will have a miserable time clearing you camps since the only damage you will be doing to the monster will be your basic autos. It just isn't worth it.

3.) Clear speed: To be honest, Shen's clear speed is not the greatest at level one. This will allow a lot of time for the enemy jungler to move around the map and possible counter-jungle you as well.

Ganking

When it comes to ganks, Shen has some of the best ganks out of any champion. A taunt is crippling to the Gankee and allows for easy set up for secondary CC. Also, do not be afraid to go for a tower dive. Your Passive shield can tank a few tower shots for your team.

Items

Ok, now the fun part: This is a list of recommended items for jungling with Shen!

1. Smite Enchantment - If you read the previous version of this guide, you may remember me choosing do go Devourer on this build. Unfortunately, Shen has no more meaningful on hit effects for Devourer to complement. So, it is only reasonable to go Cinderhulk now. Cinderhulk makes for insane scaling with your Passive, Shadow Dash, and Titanic Hydra.

2. Titanic Hydra - An absolute must with this build. The fact that you can deal damage based on your max health is any Shen player's wet dream! Rush this item as soon as possible

3. Boots - To be completely honest, choose the boots that best fit the context of the game. I know that Boots of Swiftness are all the hype, but do not forgot about the other boots. Mercury Treads are great for Shen, giving some MR along with Tenacity which is great for a mobile tank like Shen.

3. Dead Man's Plate - MORE ON HIT DAMAGE. Health, armor, flat damage, move speed, what else needs to be said? Always build unless the enemy team is all AP.

4. Wit's End - Oh yes. The forbidden Item. To be completely honest, the only reason I like this item on Shen is that it is the only tank item that grants attack speed. I feel that some attack speed is great in this build so as to get off all 3 of your Q empowered autos in a timely fashion, and to proc your Titanic Hydra more often.
5. Warmog's Armor - Do I need to explain?

Summary

In all, I hope this guide can shed some light on the shadows (pun intended) where jungle Shen resides. I hope you give jungle Shen a shot even if you think my guide is trash. AP Shen is surprisingly scary. Anyway good luck, and thank you for reading the guide! Please drop a comment on how I can improve this guide or if you have any other ideas for items/masteries/runes or anything you can think of for this build! Also, be sure to check out my Jungle Nasus Build Guide here!